If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

pipe fence question

pipe fence question

12-03-2007, 02:47 PM

I am building a steel pipe fence ( 2 3/8" ) for my home and need suggestions on how to cut the saddle out of the line post so the top rail rail sits smooth on top. I've tried the torch but have problems with slag and rough cut. Any tools or tricks I should know about? I've got about 5 acres to do and It will take me FOREVER at this rate!

Well by the time you are done with the 5 acres you will be real good with a torch. You can use a hole saw but thats a lot of drilling. Or theres an ironworker for about 20 grand but that won't work for you either...Bob

Comment

i am with aametalmaster after five acres we will be asking you for advice,there is no quick fix here that i know of,what wall thickness is your pipe,is it drill stem,you might need a smaller tip for more accurate cuts,plusa clean tip is a happy tip, 23/8 not much saddle i just free hand them,to big of a tip would account for alot of slag on tubing gets the metal to hot to fast. you really have to move to stay ahead of your melt back behind you. hope this helps

Comment

your going to do all 5 acres ? wow, that sounds expensive. there are many different ways you can do this. an end mill would be very fast and acurate but they are expensive. you could grind/sand your way through using a bench grinder with a large abrasive stone that has the corners dressed off. you could use the roller end of a bench mounted belt sander, you could even use a rotary sanding drum mounted in a drill press. or you could use a die grinder. It's actually pretty fast. when using a die grinder most people will use a hole saw notcher to chop through it at a 45 degree angle. then they dress it down to the real angle using the die grinder. to do this accurately you have to use thin cardboard angle templates. you wrap it around your tube, trace the line then cut. a computer based tube miter program called "tube-miter" by Giles pucket can be found at http://www.ihpva.org./tools/index.html Its listed way down at the bottom of the page, for some reason its listed in the section entitled "spreadsheets"
print the output on 65 pound paper. remember, never have sharp edges on your miter or the welder will just burn them off. for example if you use a 1.25" hole saw to miter 1.25" tubing the resulting cut end will have almost razor sharp edges and look like a round knife blade. on the outher hand if you use a 1" hole saw on 1.25" tube the edges of the miter will be blunt, having almost the full wall thickness entirely around the perimeter that will take a good full penetration weld. another handy tool to have around the shop is called the longacre pipe master that is actually a set specially designed collars that slip down over a tube connection and forms a boundary line you can trace around for the correct miter at virtually any possible intersection angle. you have to have one pipe master for each tubing size you work with, but they're fairly cheap. I know most of this doesn"t apply to you but I thought I'd throw it in for the outher readers. hope this gives you a few ideas............................................. ......................................
most of this info. can be found in the chopper builders handbook under tools and tube miter programs. how much is this fence going to cost you?

Comment

My buddy did an acre garden with 2" black pipe, posts and top rail and i was impressed to say the least. But he works in a large machine shop and i bet he milled all the saddles because they were stick welded and perfect. He painted it all green and it looked nice...Bob

Comment

Are all the posts set in the ground already??
If so all you need to do is make a small notch in line with the top rail an each side and leave a bit of the original cut still there. About a 45 degree bite. Start small and then check your fit. It's really super easy once you get the hang of it.
If your doing it before hand then just use a chop saw and make 2 45 degree cuts on opposite sides with about an inch between them.
It's pure gravy.
If you start checking out factory exhaust systems you will begin to get the idea, they don't waste anything there and fit good.

Comment

A 12lb. beater and an anvil will make quick work of one end to weld to another pipe. Not quite as nice looking but a LOT faster! You don't want to flatten the end completely, just enough to get a suitable fitup to weld.
Check out handrails, some are fit this way.

If looks are important, consider cutting saddles on the ones near the house or wherever you want the best looking sections and do the others with one end slightly flattened.

If you do that you should be able to get done sometime before 2009.

Flash me! I'm a welder.

American by birth, Union by choice! Boilermakers Local 60

America is a Union

Comment

sounds like that would be the cheapest way to do it especially with 5 acres. I love my die grinder but a 45 degree cut would be super fast. never tryed it, not sure how tight the fit up is, I'm going to try it tomorrow. thanks for the idea fusionking.

Comment

It is fast...I used to own a muffler shop plus done a bunch of stockcar stuff.
Once you catch on to the chopsaw method then you can duplicate that "look" with about anything you have in a pinch. Torch, plasma, sawzall whatever. If your a little "off" then a 4 1/2" grinder will smooth it in. Angles are very easy to do this way as well...you just make one notch.

If I was building a profesional racing chassis then I would use better stuff tho.

Out in the boonies on a fence??? A BFH and A BFR would be just fine for me

Comment

First thing new member here. Hiya All.
I have fenced in about 2 acres with 2 3/8 schd 40 and to cut my pipe I used a wrap around to mark pipe and then used a victor 300 with a small tip to cut the pipe. I also used my plasma cutter and used the wrap around as a guide. That worked better just a little problem moving equipment to each pipe. Just my 2 cents. A fence is something that once done will reflect the pride of the owner for a long time..Good Luck.

Comment

If I had that much fencing to do, I'd pick up a short length of oversize pipe which will slip over your post material. If that's not feasible, then I'd take a short length of post material and split it length wise (angle grinder) and spread it until it fit over the original piece of pipe. I'd then cut that short section into a pattern (creates the notch) which would slip over the pipe to be cut. The cut could then easily be done with a plasma cutter following the pattern. This method would eliminate the "knife edge" you would get if you tried to cut each post with a holesaw.

Sounds like a lot of work to make the pattern, but for the amount of fencing you're talking about, I think it'd be worth it.

Comment

Shure-kut (not exactly sure of the spelling) jigs and an oxy/act torch are the most common in my part of the woods. The jig is hinged with a retaining clip. You clamp it around the pipe and use it as a guide for the torch head. They come in saddle cut, 45 degree and orange peel for making dome tops for both 2 3/8 and 2 7/8 (OD) size pipe.

They run about $70 and can be found a most local welding shops around here, but consider we have cheaper access to oilfield pipe in this part of the country.

Comment

I have built a lot of fence with drill stem. You need a torch, wrap-a-round, and a grinder. Get a scrap piece and grind and cut it until you get the shape you are looking for. Transfer this to the wrap-a -round and away you go. Most of it around here is 30 to 32 feet of pipe(not including the threaded part) so posts about 15 feet apart work well.